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Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Reality Show Interview with... Author Georgia Hill!

Hello, Georgia, lovely to have you on the blog as a fellow writer of reality-shows. In
Doubting Abbey aristocratic contestants strive to win Million Dollar Mansion, to
save their run-down estates… Can you tell us a little about the reality show Who
Dares Dances in Say it with Sequins?

Hi Samantha! Thank you so much for inviting me on here. I absolutely
loved Doubting Abbey, by the way! Who Dares Dances, which is the reality show in
Say it with Sequins: The Rumba, is a mixture between Strictly Come Dancing and
I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of Here! Contestants have to learn to dance but also
face a series of bizarre challenges, dreamed up by the director. I had great fun
thinking up nasty things for the celebs to do!

The cover
is gorgeous and really reminds me of Strictly Dancing – are you watching this
year’s show and who have you most enjoyed watching? Mark Benton has really
entertained me this year – brilliant!

I have to confess to being a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing
(Dancing with the Stars in the US). I never miss a series and have even gone to
see the live shows, which are great fun. I’ve just booked to see Pasha Kovalev,
my favourite pro-dancer, perform in his own show next year. I can’t wait. The
cover of Say it with Sequins is absolutely gorgeous – I love it. I was away when
it was emailed through and my husband tried to describe it down the phone – very
funny and he didn’t do any justice at all to Alexandra’s beautiful design!
Usually, I have a favourite dancer who I develop an enormous crush on but that
hasn’t happened this year. Pasha remains my passion (he’s clever and a reader
too, what a man). I’ve enjoyed watching Mark Benton and Dave Myers has made me
laugh until I cried.

Having
created a fictional reality show, does this mean you are a fan of the genre? I
am, my favourites being Celebrity Big Brother and the jungle I’m a
Celebrity…

I think I am a fan of reality TV, to some extent. I love Come Dine
With Me and Four in a Bed but it’s really Strictly that does it for me. I love
it.

Often, in
the TV shows larger-than-life characters take part. In Million Dollar Mansion
the Croxley family’s opponents, the Baron of Marwick and his son, are indeed
larger-than-life. How would you describe your characters in Who Dares
Dances?

Well, Bob Dandry, the director of Who Dares Dances is definitely
larger-than-life and not in a good way (we learn more about him in later books).
Jan, the Russian pro-dancer, is larger-than-life too – he’s about 6’5” – and
mean!

Sum up
your main character in three words.

Julia Cooper, my main character in Say it with Sequins: The Rumba, is
talented, funny, insecure.

If you
could take part in any of the current reality shows, which would it be? Have to
say, I would LOVE to learn to dance properly – and wear those
outfits!

Well, I’d have to say Strictly, of course but I’d be a ‘dance
disaster’ as Craig would say. I’d work my leg-warmers off, though, if it meant
wearing those gorgeous dresses every week and being held in the muscular arms of
a hot pro-dancer. Pasha maybe?! Not to mention it’s a great way to lose weight
and get fit!

What sort
of contestant would you be in the jungle?

I’d be AWFUL! No way, could I eat those bugs. Ugh. And – all that
endless sitting around in the heat and getting bored – I have a very low boredom
threshold and would probably end up making trouble, just for the sake of it. And
trust me, no one would want to watch me wearing a bikini in the outside shower
…

Georgia Hill writes contemporary romantic comedy, written with
love. She lives in a tiny village in Herefordshire, with her two beloved
spaniels, husband (also beloved) and a ghost called Zoe. Say it with Sequins:
The Rumba is the first in a series of three novellas, for Harper Impulse.

Who
Dares Dances is a reality TV show with a difference. Not only do contestants
have to learn to dance, they also face a series of bizarre
challenges.

When
Julia Cooper signs up, all she wants is to revive her flagging acting career.
When she meets dare-devil Harri Morgan, though, the attraction is instant – and
hot!

Forced
to perform a sexy rumba together, the sequins really start to fly. Will they
score the perfect ten, or is their romance destined to be a dance disaster? Find
out in Say it with Sequins, the first in a series of three
novellas.